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You're saying that the Biblical record says one thing, but another actually happened? I admit that I cannot work with that. I can use the Old and New Testament to make or dissect certain points or beliefs, but The Holy Scriptures of Junebug are not in my personal library. If I were to just add or redact portions of the Bible to make it fit my worldview... huh. That kind of explains why there are so many different denominations of Christianity. Ah well, let's soldier on.

First I think I should first explain my view on the Bible. The Bible can be a good study guide but I believe whether or not it's the undisputed word of God is debatable. After all the author of every book is human and unfortunately humans make mistakes. I know this one's going to really blow you away. I believe God is the very one that opened my mind to this. Think of the Native American. They are very spiritual people. That's what God is all about, the spirit of a man, not the flesh. They never had a Bible to read, but they understood that you need a clean spirit for a good afterlife. The spirit is what a person really is, not the outer vessel of flesh. That is the basic foundation for all religion's of the world. How can you really know God without studying them all? I'll have to admit that I've been slacking the last few years, I found the answers I was looking for and just stopped studying. I will have to say that finding those answers started a healing in me that I had been searching for, for a long time.

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The book of Junebug seems to be saying that if you thought you were being a good Christian and following Jesus' example and you and a group of similarly loyal Christians pray for a cure for cancer and it doesn't work... one or more of you just don't measure up. Go back and hear the lesson from the sermon. Now, practice Christianity differently. Be noble. Avoid the death penalty. Be a good example. Avoid power outages. Be kind. Now... try that prayer again, and say goodbye to cancer and war! Honest, the book of Junebug sounds a bit better than the book of Matthew. But I suspect that it's getting the same results. Hang on... *checks the news* ...yeah, people still get cancer and fight wars.

That probably sounds a bit too snarky and insulting, and is kind of uncalled for. I apologize, Junebug.

...although I am pretty sure I wasn't as insulting as this.

(Note: not insulting to me, as I don't believe that Jesus or god exists. But anyone who has prayed for divine help in a time of need and did not get an answer, or an answer they wanted, and is told that he or she wasn't living up to Jesus' example would probably get kind of angry... and then they'd be risking judgment, according to Matthew 5:21,22. So we've come full circle!)

You know you're right tonus. That is rather harsh. God doesn't make the wars man does. Even if the war is over God, it is the man that decides to fight and kill over it. Even when they say the God they're fighting over commands them not to kill. Boggles my mind. I try to love them, but it's not easy. I get angry when I see what all this bad religion has done to mans relationship to God, because in my world, we all need each other to pass this test and so far we are not doing so good. Getting better, but we still have a long way to go.

It is hard to explain why God doesn't answer all prayers. That is why faith in His infinite knowledge through a crisis is so important. When you loose faith you can not see it; it being God's Love. Man see's dying as such a bad thing, I'm still afraid, I'm not ready, but through my faith, that fear is slowly but surely fading away. The one's we Love that we have lost are in Heaven, and that comforts my soul. I know this is random but, that reminds me of the funerals where they are rejoicing for their lost loved one. I look up at the sky sometimes and I can see my parents sitting on a cloud enjoying their new found freedom and I feel like I'm in the presence of something a lot bigger than "me". It's kind of over whelming, but joyful all at the same time. I know it would take me longer if it were my son I had to let go, and anger towards God would be understandable, all anger towards God is, but nevertheless, I would have to keep my faith to survive that, no doubt.